Archive for Social Media

The Walt Disney Company uses social media contests to attract fans and increase enthusiasm. By promoting online connections through social media, the company is really establishing stronger bonds of brand loyalty and connectedness with their customers. As David Meerman Scott relates in his book, it is critically important in such a digital age, for companies to get connected through social media. There are no charges to get connected in this way, and with increased brand recognition, higher brand authority, and the opportunity for customer insights, there are really no downsides to social media application.

Through social media, the Walt Disney Company has also become very invested in contests and sweepstakes programs to further involve customers. For example, this year, Disney launched a “Show Your Disney Side” contest. Using the hashtag #disneyside on all social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter, Vine, and Instagram, individuals were chosen to be featured on the Disney Side Website.

Disney Examiner articulates that Disney Side is, “a place where guests get to show off their crazy, fun, cheesy, and happy times while living in their Disney dreams. They’ll be able to do that by sharing those moments on social media because that’s where most people (especially Disney fans) are nowadays as seen in the massive amount of moments that are already shared there. The fact that Disney is already making their following and guest engagement stronger through social media plans like these are really appreciated by people like us because we believe no one will know their Disney side until they see yours!”

Through this social media contest, top candidates had the opportunity to win Disney Parks Vacations and even cash prizes. Using incentives such as these, The Walt Disney Company is really drawing customers in through social media and ultimately benefiting from the promotional effort. An additional nationwide competition Disney participated in was the Cheer on Your Disney Side campaign promoting ESPN. Again, using these online social media sites to promote such contests are benefiting the company at large tremendously.

Some of the benefits of social media contests discussed in Professor Sweet’s class include the following:

– Contests connect with consumers

– Consumers get something for nothing

– Companies earn Quid Pro Quo (something for something)

– Represent real engagement

– Pro-sumer opportunities (producer and consumer)

– Surprising creativity

– Contextualized to various SM platforms

– Contests reveal:

○ Social media as communication platform

○ Social media as testing platform

○ Social media as recognition platform

By employing social media contests such as that which is presented above, The Walt Disney Company is using its’ digital footprint wisely. Through contests, Disney is building up brand loyalty in a way that is current and in line with the modern times.

What are some suggested contest or sweepstakes ideas that huge companies such as The Walt Disney Company might consider pursuing? In what ways do you feel contests help consumers to feel more connected with an institution?

The Walt Disney Company continues to adjust its digital marketing approach with each new product publicized. Most recently, (Friday November 7th) Disney released its newest animated film, Big Hero 6. The marketing strategy of this movie is particularly noteworthy because it is among the first to use a new digital advertising tool. Disney along with the CW, Activision, Banana Republic, and Lancôme are the first companies to use Instagram video ads to promote their products.

The creators of Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) had been searching for an area in which they could make profit, while also keeping users happy with their online experiences. For six months, they had been testing Instagram video ads, before they were introduced to the public earlier this year. Disney’s first 15 second advertisement promoting Big Hero 6, shows the two main characters taking a selfie.

The digital and increasingly mobile marketing domain is growing daily. Mobile advertising is also becoming a larger piece of many products marketing mix, including Disney products. As Stephen Kapusta expressed during a presentation on Luna Metrics in our Digital Marketing class today, mobile marketing is certainly not going away any time soon. According to his predictions for the future of the marketing industry, increased spending and competition in the digital space are huge factors to consider. Mr. Kapusta also highlighted that mobile advertising has increased by 81% during this year alone. It is inevitable that this industry will only grow to be a more powerful force in the marketing sphere.

In what additional ways do you feel that The Walt Disney Company should be expanding to the mobile market with any of its products? What is your reaction to the Big Hero 6 Instagram advertisement released by Disney?

The Walt Disney Company is constantly adjusting its digital marketing strategy to the current trends in society. For example, Disney’s release of Frozen in November 2013, triggered countless individuals to create YouTube videos reenacting musical numbers throughout the film. Some of these independently created Frozen-inspired videos are linked below.

While The Walt Disney Company did not plan or arrange for these people to create promotional videos for their movie, they did so regardless. In this case, “Frozen’s” digital marketing platform relied largely on unofficial YouTube videos. Disney is proving that advertising platforms may not always rely completely on a company at large. By providing viewers content that they are happy with, those viewers often continue to share and in turn provide marketing for that business.

With today’s digital and online cultures growing so rapidly, promotional efforts are continually being focused on sites such as YouTube. While everyone is now able to product their own content, there are more and more opportunities for everyone to be a publisher.

The Walt Disney Company seems to have embraced this digital marketing trend, by advertising in less traditional forms and allowing viewers to create their own content. By embracing current trends, Disney continues to be a leader in the digital marketplace.

Included in the super-set of social media, blogs, are an extremely valuable digital marketing platform for organizations including The Walt Disney Company. As such, blogs are ideal areas in which communities of individuals interested in all things Disney can connect and communicate. While The Walt Disney Company provides its’ own official blogging sites, countless other Disney fanatics have also begun blogging on their own Disney related online platforms.

As discussed in Digital Marketing class with Professor Sweet, using social media plugins on blogging platforms is a terrific addition. All of the aforementioned blogs offer subscription to RSS feeds as well as easy connectors to other social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Using all social media platforms together, provides an even stronger foundation from which viewers and bloggers can connect and share in community together.

The official blog sites of The Walt Disney Company focus on providing content to their viewers. Instead of trying to sell readers on specific products or vacation packages, the blogs all relate to audiences through recent happenings in the company. For example, Disney Post recently shared how ESPN is using mobile phones as a primary resource to connect with interested individuals and in September 70.1 million people accessed ESPN through mobile devices alone.

Unofficial Disney blog sites, “created by fans for fans” also promote content for The Walt Disney Company. Bloggers review special events that they took part in at Disney locations, offer character quizzes, and share their favorite things Disney-related. While they are not working in any way for the company, these bloggers are really offering digital marketing for Disney. By providing public relations, bloggers offer credibility and a realistic, person to person communication element that larger official sites often cannot exhibit.

Through both official and unofficial blogging, The Walt Disney Company is largely benefiting from having an active social media presence online. By offering connectors to related social media and content marketing to viewers, blogging is effective in allowing individuals to get engaged, communicate and connect with one another, and track Disney trends in the industry.

The Walt Disney Company has an extremely active online presence, whether it be from its own created content, or other Disney Inspired websites and social media outlets. Disney has established an exceptionally loyal fan base which often turns to the internet to express its undying dedication to Disney. Included in this following are Disney inspired wedding dresses.

Alfred Angelo is recorded as the world’s largest family-owned and operated manufacturer and retailer of bridal gowns. Aside from wedding dresses, the company sells bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses, and mother of the bride dresses. With five total lines of gowns, Alfred Angelo is celebrating its 80th year of business this year.

In September of 2010, Alfred Angelo and The Walt Disney Company teamed up to develop Disney-inspired wedding dresses. The line features dresses based off of Disney Princesses: Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Belle, Tiana, and Jasmine. With 97,241 likes on Facebook and 2,822 followers on Twitter, Alfred Angelo has a great fan base as well.

Listed below are a number of pages found online that promote the Alfred Angelo Disney-inspired wedding dresses.

The Walt Disney Company has certainly made a constructive decision in teaming up with Alfred Angelo. There are countless positive online marketing responses to this smart business union. Social media outlets such as Pinterest and Tumblr are used in this case as marketing platforms for Disney and Alfred Angelo customers. Both businesses also have the opportunity to monitor what people are saying about their products online. It is definitely a sign of a well-marketed brand, when there are boundless responses to that companies union with another organization, as we see in this Disney-inspired wedding dresses example.

The Walt Disney Company is ranked number 2 on today’s global social media chart according to Starscore. The powerful company has fans all over the globe who love to share their adoration for Disney online!

The Walt Disney Company has:

7,210,044,895 views on YouTube

188,197,664 fans on Facebook

23,245,945 followers on Twitter

3,210,485 fans on Instagram

3,237,995 fans on Sina Weibo

1,734,083 fans on Google+

90,038 fans on Renren

173,861 fans on Mixi

153,068 fans on VK

481,605 fans on Tencent Weibo

On Starscore’s brand chart, The Global Walt Disney Company ranks as Number 1 above Nescafe and Movieclips Trailers. These startling statistics prove that The Walt Disney Company must really be doing something right in terms of social media platforms.

So what is Disney doing in the digital world that attracts such overwhelming amounts of followers on the web?

On Twitter and Facebook, Disney claims to be committed to 2 main principles which are: “reach families and Disney enthusiasts and share content that our guests are compelled to talk about and share.” (Digiday)

“Disney Interactive, social media outreach is all about connecting with Disney enthusiasts in an entertaining way.” (Digiday)

In short, The Walt Disney Company is content marketing to its target audiences by engaging them in social media outlets in which they enjoy participating. By sharing the latest developments in the Disney Company, at specific times and through social media platforms, Disney productively occupies the online network.